The grand hall’s dome was adorned with countless stars, casting a magnificent celestial glow throughout the space.
Enveloped in a mysterious, profound, and majestic Dao Rhyme, the atmosphere isolated and suppressed everything. It carried an air of lofty solitude and ancient vicissitudes, as if an Ancient Divine Emperor had been slumbering for eons.
Yu Lingzhou and Yueyi Heavenly Lord wore solemn expressions. The pressure emanating from this place was unlike anything they had felt before, even from Xinyu and Qinghuan, both Emperors in their own right. One could only imagine the extraordinary level of the treasure before them.
Qing Muling’s gaze drifted to the ground, which was now covered in a myriad of starlight ripples, resembling a pool of dazzling, colorful spiritual liquid. Occasionally, specks of rainbow starlight would fall from the dome, causing the surface of the spiritual liquid to rise slowly.
From his ankles to his knees, waist, and eventually submerging his chest, the scene was as beautiful as a dream, bizarre and surreal.
“This is…”
Dragon Ritual Princess’s expression shifted subtly. Though she sensed no danger, she dared not let her guard down. Protective treasures on her person sparked to life one after another.
Following her lead, the other elders conjured various magical artifacts and Spirit Treasures to shield themselves. Yu Lingzhou and Yueyi Heavenly Lord flanked Qing Muling, vigilantly monitoring the mysterious hall’s exterior.
“The real test is likely yet to come,” Qing Muling mused. The starlight posed no threat; in fact, it was a rare opportunity. However, what would happen next was unclear, even to him, as the secrets of heaven were not omnipotent.
In a few breaths, the resplendent starlight had enveloped them completely.
The women felt no discomfort, only a gentle infusion of pure and flawless divine energy that subtly and slowly enhanced their innate talents—a small but persistent improvement.
Suddenly, Qing Muling sensed something and looked up. Beyond the grand hall, in the depths of the vast Harmony Star Sea, a golden-scaled true dragon thousands of zhang long soared towards them, surrounded by a halo of five-colored auspicious clouds and dazzling light, roaring as it pounced towards the women in the hall.
In the next instant, hundreds of golden thunderbolts, brimming with a chilling destructive aura, thundered down.
“Be careful!”
Yu Lingzhou shouted, and a seven-treasure ruby-red parasol flew out gracefully. A misty blue haze spread out like smoke, enveloping the women and blocking all the thunderous attacks.
“Eh? Something seems off,” Yueyi Heavenly Lord remarked, puzzled. The golden-scaled true dragon was no less than a top-tier Daluo fighter, so how could its full-force attack be so easily thwarted? Surely it wasn’t holding back?
Unless, of course, it was because of their Junior Brother.
“We’re no longer in the Misty Illusion Secret Realm; everyone can fight with full force now!”
Qing Muling spoke calmly. In the Misty Illusion Secret Realm, they could only use powers at the Ascending to Immortality realm, but the space within this hall was completely isolated from the outside world, akin to a separate universe.
“That’s a relief!”
Glancing at the increasingly formidable halo of fortune above Qing Muling’s head, Yu Lingzhou felt reassured and instructed, “Sisters, let’s join forces and form a formation to deal with any contingencies!”
“Yes, Senior Sister!”
The women responded in unison. Over a thousand Supreme Elders quickly assembled into a grand formation, stirring the winds and clouds, and the oppressive aura surged, forming multiple layers of solid light screens in an instant.
Sword lights, condensed to the extreme and spanning thousands of zhang, cleaved through the air, dismembering the golden dragon into pieces, its massive head sent flying by a gush of blood.
The dragon’s anguished cries echoed through the void as its remnants and Divine Soul dissipated into starlight, soon absorbed by the hall itself, transforming into a beautiful rain of starlight.
“An illusion? But it doesn’t quite seem so…”
Yu Lingzhou was taken aback. Before she could devise a countermeasure, the Harmony Star Sea stirred again. Dozens of true dragons of various shapes and species emerged, launching a fierce assault on the newly formed formation of Supreme Elders.
Following closely, more than twenty white tiger-like beasts, each tens of thousands of zhang long with fierce and menacing appearances, emerged, their blood-red eyes coldly surveying the scene. Then, creatures resembling Glutton, Poverty-stricken, and nine-tailed celestial foxes—various Ancient Divine Beasts—appeared, nearly filling the entire dome.
The Supreme Elders were undaunted, unleashing a barrage of powerful divine abilities and high-grade magical artifacts and Spirit Treasures. The void erupted with thunder, sword light crisscrossed, and ice mountains, fire clouds, and seas of lightning filled the sky, plunging the scene into chaos.
A giant bronze figure, towering over ten thousand zhang with bulging muscles, appeared wielding a long-handled hammer. With a thunderous roar, the hammer smashed down, leaving a trail of afterimages.
The impact sent shockwaves through the formation’s protective screens, darkening and severely distorting them, but they held firm. Some Supreme Elders turned pale, blood trickling from the corners of their mouths, clearly suffering internal injuries.
Protected at the center, Qing Muling turned his gaze and waved his hand, casting a radiant light filled with spiritual vitality, instantly healing the injured Supreme Elders and restoring their magical power and spirit to peak condition.
Yu Lingzhou breathed a sigh of relief: “Good, sisters, no need to hold back. Fight with all your might!”
With their Junior Brother there, they had no concerns about depleting their strength and could focus on unleashing their most powerful moves, confident they could handle these creatures.
In an instant, countless sharp sword lights soared, ruthlessly slaughtering the aerial beasts. Each time a creature was slain, its body exploded into a mass of Harmony starlight that dissipated into the air and was absorbed by the mysterious hall, intensifying the profound Dao Rhyme.
Qing Muling simply sat within the formation, watching the battle unfold, ready to restore any Supreme Elder who overexerted themselves, ensuring they remained at their peak.
The number of fierce beasts outside the hall grew, and their attacks became more ferocious, pushing the women to the brink of danger. Yet, the formation’s defenses never collapsed; instead, the creatures were annihilated by the elders’ counterattacks, batch after batch.
Time slipped by quietly.
The fierce battle lasted for several hours, and when the number of slain beasts reached a certain threshold, the mysterious hall trembled slightly, and the celestial creatures on the dome vanished without a trace.
The stars reappeared, and an infinite, gentle starlight rained down, as if the life-and-death struggle had been nothing but an illusion.
Hmm, Qing Muling surmised, it probably was just an illusion, given the hall’s high rank, which even Yu Lingzhou hadn’t realized at first.
Now aware of the oddity, the women looked around in confusion, their powerful divine senses sweeping over the hall, inside and out, attempting to discern the core of this precious treasure.
“There!”
Qing Muling spoke softly. In the center of the hall, a twelve-tiered platform adorned with radiant starlight and extraordinary beauty rose silently, with an equally magnificent throne atop it.
The throne was unoccupied, but a fist-sized seal floated above it, seemingly formed from strands of beautiful starlight, with a constant churn of Harmony mist within.
After some contemplation, Qing Muling understood that whoever obtained this seal would become the master of the hall and fully subjugate it.
“Who would like to try?”
He asked, knowing that with his cultivation level and the rank of this treasure, he likely couldn’t activate it. Perhaps it was best for Yu Lingzhou and the others to attempt it.
After a moment’s thought, Yu Lingzhou said, “Then let me try.”
Lolita Elder approached the platform with light steps, cautiously extending a wisp of divine sense to contact and communicate with the starlight seal. As a master of artifact refinement, she had unique insights into various magical and postnatal Spirit Treasures and had even handled a few Innate Spirit Treasures. Naturally, she knew how to claim an unowned treasure.
All she needed was to gain the seal’s recognition, and subjugating it would become quite simple.
However, Yu Lingzhou lasted less than ten breaths before a muffled groan escaped her lips. Her slender and voluptuous body swayed, and blood trickled from her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
“Senior Sister, what happened?”
Yueyi Heavenly Lord quickly extended a red ribbon to pull her back, and Qing Muling immediately healed her.
“I couldn’t withstand its divine sense pressure,” Yu Lingzhou admitted after recovering: “I suspect the same will happen to anyone else who tries. Perhaps only our Junior Brother could be the exception.”
“Then let our Junior Brother try!”
Yueyi Heavenly Lord suggested immediately. After all, everyone present was from their own sect. If Qing Muling gained the opportunity, it was no different from them gaining it, and they wouldn’t miss out on any benefits later.
Qing Muling nodded, approached the platform, and observed for a while before cautiously extending a wisp of divine sense towards the starlight-formed seal.
Instantly, he felt his Divine Soul being pulled into the vast expanse of the Harmony Star Sea. Countless starlights howled towards him, enveloping his Divine Soul, threatening to be completely devoured and assimilated by the star sea!
Qing Muling was shocked. No wonder even Yu Lingzhou had struggled. If his Divine Soul truly merged with the Harmony Star Sea, he would never be able to free himself and might become a “living dead.”
At that moment, the Harmony Spirit Seed within him glowed faintly, stabilizing his Divine Soul, which then returned to his body.
To Yu Lingzhou and the others behind him, the seal on the throne suddenly burst into brilliant light, and streams of pure and refined starlight poured out, merging into Qing Muling’s forehead.
The mysterious hall trembled slightly, as if an ancient emperor was awakening from a long slumber, gradually exuding an indescribable vitality.
Dozens of breaths later, the starlight seal disintegrated into a streak of light that merged into Qing Muling’s body.
“So that’s how it is!”
Qing Muling opened his eyes, his clear and pure gaze revealing a hint of shock.
Now, within his sea of consciousness, beside the Harmony Spirit Seed, there was a new, beautiful, and mysterious seal wrapped in starlight. Possessing it meant that Qing Muling was now the sole master of this place.
“Junior Brother, have you subdued it?”
Yueyi Heavenly Lord asked softly.
“Yes,”
Qing Muling replied: “This supreme treasure is known as the Creation Heavenly Palace, ranking at the pinnacle of Innate Spirit Treasures. Its myriad functions… cannot be fully explained in a moment. I will explain them to you in detail later.”
With this incredible treasure, Qing Muling could help all the high-ranking female immortals of Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace undergo the Book of Changes, reshaping their foundational talents and potentials, elevating them to new heights.
For instance, he could give his Master, Mu Yinghua, special treatment, helping her quickly complete the Taiyi Golden Immortal stage and attain the Great Golden Immortal Dao fruit.
Master, you wouldn’t want to miss becoming a Great Golden Immortal, would you?
This thought suddenly crossed Qing Muling’s mind, and he wondered whether Mu Yinghua would agree or continue to discipline him with an eye mask and golden shackles.
“Well then, we can have an in-depth discussion when we return.”
Yu Lingzhou, unaware of Qing Muling’s thoughts, spoke cheerfully.
With her insight, she knew this artifact’s rank was even higher than the sect’s Li Feng Star Cloud Tower. Opportunities that could affect Great Golden Immortals were indeed rare.
…
At the mining base, within the cabin of the floating battleship.
Ice Falcon Heavenly Lord sat in the main seat, with Xuebing Xuan and other senior sisters on both sides, each busy with their tasks.
“…Junior Brother has been out with them for several days now,” Cheng Yulan said, her voice tinged with melancholy.
“I’ve realized we’ve all made a mistake,” Qi Yalan said with a slight frown, sorting through jade slips and books in front of her, expressing regret.
Luo Huan blinked her moist starry eyes and suggested, “Is it because of Junior Brother? Shouldn’t we have let that Dragon Ritual Princess be alone with him?”
“What else do you think?” Luo Wanqing snorted: “Going out with Junior Brother means a better chance at encountering fortune than we imagined. The consequence of our absence is that those vixens will divide all the benefits, and we won’t even get a taste of the leftovers!”
The senior sisters in the cabin pondered this possibility. Given Qing Muling’s fortune, it was entirely plausible. Yu Lingzhou and Fengxia were one thing, as they were from their own sect, but Dragon Ritual Princess was not.
And that wasn’t even the worst part. If during their adventures, the newly arrived Peacock Fairy succeeded in charming Junior Brother with Dragon Ritual Princess’s help, or even… became pregnant! That would be a disastrous outcome, both for the sect and for them.
Qi Shuyu and Yu Binghua exchanged glances, sighing deeply. If they had known, they would have been more assertive and done everything to please and win over Junior Brother. Perhaps by now, they would have achieved their desires.
Xuebing Xuan spoke leisurely: “What’s the point of saying this now? Learn from this lesson. From now on, two or three senior sisters must always accompany Junior Brother, never letting him be monopolized by that Dragon Ritual girl.”
“Agreed, let’s settle on that.”
The women nodded in agreement.
Ice Falcon Heavenly Lord chuckled: “Is it really necessary to be so anxious? The protectors around Junior Brother are all Supreme Elders from our sect, not to mention Yu Lingzhou and Yueyi Heavenly Lord. If there’s a chance to reap the benefits, do you think they would let it slip by?”
“Who knows? Perhaps that’s exactly what happened!” Qi Yalan said, somewhat frustrated, resolving to never leave Junior Brother’s side again, no matter where he went.